# Module Time_stamp_counter.Calibrator

    module Calibrator: sig .. end

A calibrator contains a snapshot of machine-specific information that is used to convert between TSC values and clock time. This information needs to be calibrated periodically such that it stays updated w.r.t. changes in the CPU's time-stamp-counter frequency, which can vary depending on load, heat etc. (Also see the comment in the `.ml` file)

Calibration at the rate of 0.1, 1 or 2 secs produces errors (measured as the difference between `Time.now` and the reported time here) on the order of 1-2us. Given the precision of 52bit float mantissa values, this is very close to least error one can have on these values. Calibration once per 10sec produces errors that are +/-4us. Calibration once per minute produces errors that are +/-15us and calibration once in 3mins produces errors +/-30us. (It is worth remarking that the error has a positive bias of 1us -- i.e. the error dances around the 1us mark, rather than around 0. It is unclear where this bias is introduced, though it probably does not matter for most applications.)

This module maintains an instance of `t` internal to the module. The internal instance of `t` can be updated via calls to `calibrate ()`, i.e. without specifying the `t` parameter. In all the functions below that take an optional `Calibrator.t` argument, the internal instance is used when no calibrator is explicitly specified.

    type t

    val create : unit -> t

`create ()` creates an uninitialized calibrator instance. Creating a calibrator takes about 3ms. One needs a recently calibrated `Calibrator.t` and the TSC value from the same machine to meaningfully convert the TSC value to a `Time.t`.

    val calibrate : ?t:t -> unit -> unit

`calibrate ~t` updates `t` by measuring the current value of the TSC and `Time.now`.

    val cpu_mhz : (?t:t -> unit -> float)
           Core_kernel.Std.Or_error.t

Returns the estimated MHz of the CPU's time-stamp-counter based on the TSC and `Time.now ()`. This function is undefined on 32bit machines.

    val t_of_sexp : Sexplib.Sexp.t -> t

    val sexp_of_t : t -> Sexplib.Sexp.t

    val bin_t : t Core_kernel.Std.Bin_prot.Type_class.t

    val bin_read_t : t Core_kernel.Std.Bin_prot.Read.reader

    val __bin_read_t__ : (int -> t) Core_kernel.Std.Bin_prot.Read.reader

    val bin_reader_t : t Core_kernel.Std.Bin_prot.Type_class.reader

    val bin_size_t : t Core_kernel.Std.Bin_prot.Size.sizer

    val bin_write_t : t Core_kernel.Std.Bin_prot.Write.writer

    val bin_writer_t : t Core_kernel.Std.Bin_prot.Type_class.writer

`create ()` creates an uninitialized calibrator instance. Creating a calibrator takes about 3ms. One needs a recently calibrated `Calibrator.t` and the TSC value from the same machine to meaningfully convert the TSC value to a `Time.t`.
`calibrate ~t` updates `t` by measuring the current value of the TSC and `Time.now`.
Returns the estimated MHz of the CPU's time-stamp-counter based on the TSC and `Time.now ()`. This function is undefined on 32bit machines.